House hears fishing report

Press, 29 July 1987, Page 51

House hears fishing report

PA Wellington The passage of the Fisheries Amendment Act, 1986, was a watershed for the New Zealand fishing industry, according to the chairman of the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, Mr * Mark Hinchliff. ' In the board’s annual report, tabled in Parliament, he said the act had an immediate impact on inshore fishing as fishermen were allocated transferable quotas based on their catch histories. The Government spent $45 million on a tender

scheme whereby fishermen tendered part or all of their allocated preliminary quotas to the Government.

This enabled significant reductions in the inshore catch to be made.

The report said $l9 million was paid for snapper, $5 million for groper, $1.6 million for tarakihi and $1 million for hoki in the tender round. Fisheries management was a complex issue which had been thoroughly researched by the board and the Ministry of Agriculture and

Fisheries, Mr Hinchliff said.

Though there were problems such as bycatches still to be resolved, it had been widely accepted that no better alternative to the individual transferable quota system was available, he said.

The new scheme is meeting the Government’s and the industry’s objectives of covering resources and restoring economic stability to inshore fishing, the report said.